1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to providing services to subscribers across multiple networks, such as wireless networks, in a seamless fashion, and, more particularly, to software, systems, and methods for facilitating mobility of subscribers or users by facilitating seamless mobility of services across two or more networks or two or more service provider systems or networks (i.e., facilitate a mobile subscriber to access the same or similar service regardless of which communication network they are accessing with a mobile device).
2. Relevant Background
In the computer and communications industries, demand is rapidly growing for pervasive computing that allows people ubiquitous or ongoing access to information and services through the use of portable computers and communication devices such as cellular and wireless phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and the like through wired and wireless networking. Today people more and more demand to be “always on” or “always connected” which is increasingly more possible due to the growing availability and ubiquity of different types of access networks that are creating a “network of networks” made up of heterogeneous network components and technologies. Subscribers to services, such as email and scheduling programs, want to be able to connect to a network anytime and anywhere without having to think about the background technology used for providing and maintaining connectivity.
Mobility and, particularly, seamless mobility is becoming the underlying foundation of today's ubiquitous networks. Mobility can be defined as not just terminal mobility where a terminal or user device is connected to a network via a radio interface and moves around freely, but user mobility where a user moves from one terminal to another registering for the same incoming services to the new terminal. A growing component of seamless mobility is service mobility where a portfolio of subscribed services follows a user from one network to another. As networks and consumer demands become more complex subscribers will continue to want their subscribed services to follow them wherever they go regardless of which network they use to connect, and they will demand that the service operate in a similar and predictable manner regardless of their connection or access point. Mobility and mobility management techniques need to evolve to better meet the demands for more seamless mobility including service mobility. There needs to be a “handoff” of services and devices including horizontal and vertical mobility intersecting with hard, soft, and seamless handoffs of subscribers and their services.
In the telecommunications core network, a user is authenticated on the radio network via their device's non-dialable identification number (such as its international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI number) via a registry (such as a home locator registry (HLR) that is evolving into the home subscriber systems (HSS). At the registry, each subscriber has a subscriber service profile (SSP) that contains information regarding the services that they have subscribed to as well as where the service should “execute.” Some implementations have adopted directories to facilitate maintenance of subscriber identity such as a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory or by incorporating a link to such a directory to access subscriber information. However, these techniques still require the user to “login” to incremental data services offered by the particular carrier. As a subscriber roams, the subscriber service profile (SSP) indicates or grandfathers-in service information, but if the service is not available on the particular network or by the carrier servicing the roaming device or user, the service would not work or be provided.
There is a continuing need for enhanced techniques for managing service mobility. Preferably such service mobility management techniques would allow the collaborative nature of a combined Internet and communications ecosystem to be realized by providing services and content with identity and not just subscriber's identity. More specifically, it would be useful for services and network resources to be identified, authorized (e.g., activated and deactivated), and authenticated as a carrier opens their network to third party developers and content providers to drive value added services. The techniques for managing mobility would preferably allow a user to move transparently from various networks (such as 2.5G to 3G networks, wired to wireless networks with varying bandwidth and power characteristics, and the like). Always-on connectivity is provided by such techniques by supporting an end-to-end framework and customer interfaces that provide simple, secure connectivity for the subscriber location, their device, their preferences, and, significantly, their services subscribed to working in a predictable manner. Such techniques may also predict that it is likely that roaming agreements for providing services over networks similar to the models used in the cellular communications industry will be developed and implemented.